Most people focus entirely on the settlement payment and accept everything else in the draft as fixed. In practice, several other terms are often just as negotiable — and sometimes matter more.
By Eren Ezel, Employment Lawyer · 14 September 2026
When a settlement agreement lands in your inbox, the number at the top is what grabs attention. That's understandable, but a solicitor reviewing your agreement will usually be looking at a lot more than that figure — because several other terms directly affect what you actually walk away with, and how easily you move into your next role.
Most settlement agreements include an agreed reference, often as a schedule attached to the agreement itself, which your employer commits to providing if asked. The wording matters. A bare confirmation of dates and job title is far weaker than a reference that also confirms the reason for leaving was redundancy or a mutual agreement, not performance or conduct. Reference wording is one of the easiest things to push on, because it typically costs your employer nothing to agree to something more favourable.
Whether you work your notice, are placed on garden leave, or receive a payment in lieu of notice affects both your final pay and when you're free to start a new role or claim benefits. If garden leave restricts you from working elsewhere during that period, that's worth raising — see our guide to garden leave for how it interacts with a new job offer. Sometimes an earlier release date, with notice paid in lieu, works better for you than sitting out a lengthy garden leave period.
Settlement agreements often restate or introduce non-compete, non-solicitation, or non-dealing clauses. These are frequently drafted more broadly than what's actually enforceable, and a wide restriction can genuinely limit where you can work next. Narrowing the scope, shortening the duration, or removing an unenforceable clause entirely is a common and often successful point to negotiate — see our guide to restrictive covenants for what's typically enforceable.
These are sometimes bundled into the headline figure without being itemised, which makes it hard to tell whether you're actually being paid what you're contractually owed on top of any additional settlement sum, or whether the figure simply absorbs it. Asking for these to be itemised separately, and checked against your contract and any bonus scheme rules, regularly turns up money that would otherwise have been folded quietly into the total.
Confidentiality clauses are close to universal in settlement agreements, but the scope varies. Some are drafted broadly enough to arguably restrict you from discussing basic facts with a new employer, a recruiter, or even close family, which can be tightened. It's also worth checking the agreement carves out your right to make a protected disclosure (whistleblow) or report a criminal offence — a properly drafted agreement should not, and legally cannot, remove that right, but it's worth confirming the wording does so clearly.
None of this means every point is worth fighting over in every case — sometimes the original draft is already reasonable, and pushing on a term that doesn't matter to you just slows things down. The point is that the figure at the top of the agreement is rarely the only thing genuinely on the table, and a solicitor reviewing the whole document, not just the number, is often how additional value gets found without the negotiation turning adversarial. See our main settlement agreement guide for how the review and negotiation process typically works, and what your employer usually pays towards it.
If you've been sent a settlement agreement and want a proper review before you sign anything, call us on 020 3058 3365 or complete the form for a free, confidential assessment.
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